This application is not related to any pending applications.
This application is not referenced in any microfiche appendix.
The present invention relates generally to automated information processing systems, and more particularly, to a method and article of manufacture to deter and inhibit the use of search engines in locating and retrieving proprietary media throughout a computer compatible communications network.
The proliferation of digital formats and compression technologies for audio and video has shaped primarily the Internet, but other computer accessible communication networks as well, as conduits for worldwide sharing of music, movies, software, and digital information (in the instance of the Internet). Thanks to digitization and perceptual coding techniques, files, without limitation, containing entire songs and even feature-length films can be easily transmitted over wide-area networks and internetworks such as the Internet.
MPEG-1 Audio Layer-3 (MP3) is a technology for compressing audio data into a standard format, while preserving sound quality. MP3""s perceptual coding technology can shrink digital audio data by a factor of 12 without sacrificing any sound quality. Thus, it is practical to transfer audio content encoded as MP3 files over computer networks. Other applications called xe2x80x9crippersxe2x80x9d permit users to extract audio from compact discs and store extracted audio content on hard drives, where they can be transformed by an xe2x80x9cencoderxe2x80x9d application into the MP3 format. Furthermore, such xe2x80x9cencoderxe2x80x9d and xe2x80x9cripperxe2x80x9d processes have recently been bundled into xe2x80x9c1-Stepxe2x80x9d software, making duplication and distribution of MP3 files even simpler.
MP3 files are commonly available on the World Wide Web (WWW) for downloading using conventional browsers. Non-limiting examples of such browsers would include, but not be limited to Microsoft""s Internet Explorer and Netscape""s Communicator. Moreover, numerous special network client applications, including Napster, Gnutella and Scour Exchange, now exist, engaging powerful search engines to make sharing, distributing and locating MP3s (and other forms of digital media) even more convenient. This confluence of technology, particularly the powerful media search engines used in client software, has fostered the development of anonymous network communities, whose users are primarily engaged in the illegal sharing of proprietary media.
For example, Napster uses a client-server architecture to share media over the Internet and a Napster client permits users to log on to a server, to add media (i.e., MP3 files) to be recorded to Napster""s global index, and to search the global Napster index for sought after shareable media.
For purposes of disclosure and discussion, reference will be made to a media sharing community such as, but not limited to, a Napster media sharing community. As will be discussed, the present invention""s disclosure and claims extend far beyond the limitations of one specific media sharing community such as Napster and address other such communities including but not limited to Gnutella and Scour Exchange. It is expressly intended by the inventor that the term xe2x80x9cNapsterxe2x80x9d as discussed herein is provided solely for illustrative and descriptive purposes and not intended to be construed as a limitation of community type to which the benefits of the instant invention are to be extended. FIG. 1 illustrates the use of Napster like client-server network software utilized for locating and downloading media. A login process 1.03 entails launching Napster client software on a computer, which in turn registers the user as active in the Napster community. The registration protocol dictates that a Napster client send a list of MP3 files shared by the client along with client host information used to establish download connections to a Napster server. The login process assists in maintaining an active global index for media shared by Napster clients over the Internet. The logout process 1.06 removes client media records from the global index. Searching for media in Napster is a three-step process: (1) The user issues a query, e.g., a string such as xe2x80x9cMetallica,xe2x80x9d to the Napster client search engine interface 1.09, which forwards the request to the Napster server 1.11. The Napster server 1.11 compares the query against its global index and returns a list of matching records to the requesting client (a.k.a. user) 1. 14. Record data typically includes the full title, artist name, as well as a Napster user-name, the network connection type and a ping-response time (to estimate data transfer latencies) for the individual sharing the MP3 file. The user then selects a file to download and a client-client network connection is made to transfer the media file from the remote client host 1.17. Note that downloading occurs directly between Napster clients. Consequently, the Napster server is not involved in the downloading process.
While Napster engages a predominantly centralized client-server network software architecture, Gnutella minimizes the role of centralized servers. Gnutella servers do not contain a global index of shared media. Rather, they only provide remote client addresses and connection data. A Gnutella client retrieves a list of clients actively sharing media from the server and polls them directly in a search.
FIG. 2 illustrates the operation of Gnutella network software. The login process for Gnutella clients registers client host identity with a Gnutella server 2.03. Unlike Napster servers, Gnutella servers maintain no index of shared media. Rather, they only contain DNS/IP address information. The server creates a xe2x80x9chorizonxe2x80x9d for new clients, which defines the other clients visible to them. A Gnutella client search polls other members the of the client""s horizon directly for matches 2.05 and results are returned to the requesting client 2.07. The user can then select a file and location for download. The client then initiates a direct file transfer from the remote client 2.09. Further, media content broker servers such as, but not limited to Gnutella servers 2.03, provide services which allow users to continually receive evolving information related to their particular horizon 2.11. It is also important to note that Gnutella is not restricted to sharing digital audio. Video, software, text and other forms of digital information, irrespective of media content and type, can be shared as well.
Universities, corporations and other enterprises have sought technical means to reduce the potential for intellectual property right infringements committed on their networks and systems by blocking the use of Napster and other similar media sharing network clients. Absent the present invention, such blocking represents the only viable, technical solution towards preventing the unauthorized procurement copyright of proprietary media utilizing a shared communication""s network. Typically, media sharing network clients are blocked at a firewall by filtering (discarding) key packets used in client-server or client-client communication protocols. For example, a firewall can be configured to discard outgoing packets sent to Napster servers, thus inhibiting local users from registering media. Similarly, a firewall can be configured to filter selected incoming packets to inhibit searching or downloading media files.
While blocking appears to be the lone technical solution to prevent the use of media sharing network software to facilitate unauthorized procurement of proprietary media, it has a number of drawbacks that limit its practicality and universal adoption. First, blocking the use of Napster and similarly intended network software may be overly restrictive. Indeed, there are legitimate uses for such applicationsxe2x80x94not every piece of shared media represents a copyright infringement in the making. Second, blocking is easily rendered ineffectual by improvements to media sharing software. Variants of Napster, Gnutella, and other similar software will integrate, and in some cases have already integrated features making their operation over the network less conspicuous and more difficult to restrict. For example, blocking schemes that rely on common ports used by media sharing network software can be foiled by port hopping and filters that check other protocol signatures or actual transmission contents can be circumvented by tunneling and encryption, respectively.
Consequently what is needed is a method and article of manufacture to render media search engines built into Napster, Gnutella, and other media sharing network clients unusable. This is accomplished via the instant invention""s processing capabilities which provide for the systematic manufacture and sharing of decoy files resembling proprietary media. When the instant invention is properly deployed, a user searching of such media receives a high proportion of decoy hits. The instant invention""s technology makes these decoy xe2x80x9chitsxe2x80x9d difficult to discern from real hits, and manifests lengthy download times to frustrate users and discourage use of search engines for desired media.
The instant invention employs cooperative scanning, manufacturing, sharing and supervisory control software technology to share decoy media at a volume that renders media search engines ineffectual. These software processes can target proprietary media to inhibit illegal duplication and distribution over computer networks. Though disclosed, discussed and claimed in terms of Internet usage and the preclusion of sharing MP3files, it will be readily apparent to one skilled in the art that the benefits of the instant invention are not intended to be so restricted. Specifically, the present invention may be practiced over any computer compatible communications network such as, but not limited to, LANs, MANs, CANs, WANs and the Internet. Further, as discussed in association with MP3 files the present invention can be practiced to employ its cooperative scanning, manufacturing, sharing and supervisory control software technology to share any form of heretofore designed and yet to be developed media (a.k.a. file structures). Examples of file structures supporting media content upon to which the present invention may be directed would include without limitation text files, video files, audio files, any combination thereof as well as to be future developed file structures capable of interactive transference between client server, hardware and operating platforms. Lastly, such hardware and operating platforms are intended to include any and all operating and hardware platforms now existing or to be developed which are capable of processing the afore noted non-limiting files structures represented as proprietary media content. The instant invention is tunable and scalable. Media selections to be protected can be altered at will, and the level of protection (specified in terms of a decoy ratio) can be adjusted interactively and arbitrarily. The effective decoy ratio is calculated as the probability of any particular media file in a media sharing network community being a decoy. Due to the potential propagation effects of sharing decoy media, it is only practical to approximate the effective decoy ratio. By accounting for matching media files originating from the instant invention""s share clients, a lower bound on the effective decoy ratio can be computing. This lower bound can be improved by tracking third party users that have downloaded and shared decoy media from the instant invention""s clients.
The scanning process searches media sharing network communities for illegally shared proprietary media. The manufacturing process constructs decoy media files mimicking proprietary media. The share component joins media sharing network communities with shared media sets containing decoy media files. The supervisory control process is responsible for system initialization and checking subprocesses, which articulate initial configurations and reactive behavior of the system, and monitor the effective decoy ratio, respectively. These processes rely on interrelated of database repositories to coordinate system activity where a Media Protection Data Base (MPDB) contains media class protection descriptions and decoy media properties; a Media Manufacture Data Base (MMDB) contains records of decoy media to be manufactured and decoy media previously manufactured; a Media Server Data Base (MSDB) contains the actual decoy media files, a User Name Data Base (UNDB) contains a list of valid user account names, tagging those in use, for media sharing network communities, and a User Download Data Base (UDDB) records third party download activity between the instant invention""s share clients to help compute more accurate effective decoy ratio approximations.
A primary object of the instant invention is to make search engines built into media brokering systems such as, without limitation, Napster and Gnutella ineffective, thus rendering them decidedly unuseable.
Another object of the instant invention is to provide an automated process for systematically sharing decoy files which resemble proprietary media.
A further object of the instant invention is to inhibit and deter unauthorized users to proprietary media, leaving legitimate uses unaffected.
An additional object of the instant invention is to provide for dynamic scaling and tuning where multiple sharing clients can be spawned at will, and at various locations on a Local Area Network, Wide Area Network, or the Internet with each client sharing an arbitrary selection and volume of media.